People
Our team
The Future Security Initiative (FSI) has built a diverse, interdisciplinary team of over 65 faculty, fellows, and staff. This includes faculty with diverse appointments (Professors of Practice, Clinical Professors, Research Professors, Teaching Professors), Research Fellows, ASU Future Security Fellows at New America (2-4 each year, selected through a highly competitive process as members of an annual class of 15-20 New America Fellows, funded through the ASU/New America partnership), and highly skilled staff supporting the FSI, our Centers, and specific funded research projects.
FSI faculty and fellows design and teach courses, mentor undergraduate and graduate students, and advance multiple research initiatives, leading to books, articles, white papers, and other outputs directed towards creative engagements with academic, policy, and popular audiences. FSI team members are commonly recognized thought leaders in their fields, often having spent decades in leadership positions in international development, the military, the Intelligence Community, and as journalists and policy analysts. They hold PhDs in social sciences, philosophy, history, international law, JDs and MDs, have received major awards, and the authors of influential publications and leading books.
We use a networked model in which FSI team members are based in various locations around the country and around the world, work both part-time and full-time, and create and support multiple projects in ways that meet their needs while serving the broader FSI vision. This flexible approach allows for the creation and testing of new research efforts and innovative educational programming in a rapid and responsive manner. Our exceptional team of diverse experts and our unique, collaborative structure is key to our success and growth.
Peter L. Bergen, Center Co-Director, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
LaDawn Haglund and Rimjhim Aggarwal researching social and economic rights in a Delhi settlement.
David Kilcullen, ASU Future of War Fellow working on counterinsurgency issues at the Tarapaca airstrip, Colombia.
Peter Singer, Strategist and Senior Fellow at New America discusses his book Ghost Fleet at the US Navy Current Strategy Forum.
Daniel Rothenberg training local NGO workers on human rights documentation and analysis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Brad Allenby, Center Affiliated Faculty speaking on civilizational conflict, Chautauqua Institute.
Anne-Marie Slaughter, New America President and CEO.
Douglas Ollivant, ASU Future of War Fellow advising Iraqi security forces on border between Karbala and Anbar provinces.
Yasmin Saikia, Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies and Center Affiliated Faculty speaking in Baghdad at a conference sponsored by the Iraqi Ministry of Culture.
Co-directors
Peter L. Bergen
Peter L. Bergen, Professor of Practice, Director of the Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence at ASU, Vice President and Director of Future Security at New America, award winning journalist and author of multiple best-selling books including The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World and The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden.
Daniel Rothenberg
Daniel Rothenberg, Professor of Practice, Senior Fellow at New America, anthropologist focusing on international law, human rights, genocide, combining oral histories, field-based research and policy analysis, books include Memory of Silence and Drone Wars.
Faculty
Ian Anderson
Faculty Associate, Cybersecurity professional and Senior Manager Enterprise Security and Monitoring, OGE Energy Corp.
Anika Binnendijk
Professor of Practice, adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation, former staff at the National Security Council and in the Department of State Policy Planning staff
Robert J. Bunker
Former U.S. Army War College Minerva Chair and FBI Academy Futurist in Residence. Currently, Director of Research & Analysis with C/O Futures, LLC and Senior Fellow, Small Wars Journal-El Centro.
Lt. Col. M.L. Cavanaugh
Professor of Practice, active-duty U.S. Army strategist, co-founder of the Modern War Institute at West Point
Christopher Davis
Faculty Associate, PhD in Political Science from ASU, former UAV sensor operator who writes on drone operations and global security.
Alicia Ellis
Professor of Practice, Director, MA in Global Security, Director, Center on Agriculture and National Security, U.S. Air Force veteran with multiple deployments in Iraq and elsewhere, former Policy Analyst for the U.S. State Department.
Ben Fernandes
Professor of Practice, Retired US Army Colonel with significant irregular warfare experience, former Director for Defense Strategy and Policy, National Security Council, PhD in Public Policy and MBA.
Amos Fox
Professor of Practice, Retired US Army officer with multiple combat deployments, host of the podcasts Revolution in Military Affairs, author of Conflict Realism: Understanding the Causal Logic of Modern War and Warfare.
Ken Gleiman
Professor of Practice, Director of Irregular Warfare Studies, Fellow at New America Future Security, retired U.S. Army colonel, former Army strategist, Special Operations Officer and Ranger, with a PhD in Security Studies.
Anand Gopal
Professor of Practice, sociologist, journalist, finalist for 2015, 2022, and 2025 Pulitzer Prize and 2014 National Book Award, author of Days of Love and Rage and No Good Men Among the Living.
Heather Gregg
Research Professor, non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, formerly professor at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute and an associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation.
Jeremy Hodge
Senior Investigator, Zomia Center, Fellow at New America Future Security, and an investigative journalist covering the rise of extremism in Syria and Iraq, the petroleum/defense sectors, and regional finance, with articles in Foreign Affairs, The Nation, Le Monde Diplomatique, Al Jazeera, and other publications.
Sarah Holewinski
Professor of Practice, DC Director, Human Rights Watch, former deputy chief of staff in the U.S. Mission to the U.N., expert on civilian protection in war
Russ Howard
Professor of Practice, founding director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, Sr. Fellow at the Joint Special Operations University, rancher in California.
Thomas Just
Assistant Teaching Professor, political scientist specializing in the use of legal and public diplomacy strategies to counter extremist ideologies and support reconciliation
Azmat Khan
Professor of Practice, Carnegie Fellow, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize, investigative journalist focusing on conflict focusing on Afghanistan & Iraq
David Kilcullen
Professor of Practice, counter insurgency/terrorism expert former advisor to Gen. David Petraeus, and Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice, author of The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West, The Accidental Guerrilla, Counterinsurgency, Out of the Mountains
Jonathan Kinkel
Teaching Assistant Professor, lawyer, and political scientist, former Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General, former NGO director.
Jeff Kubiak
Professor of Practice, former Director of Future Security Education, Fellow at New America Future Security, retired U.S. Air Force colonel; political scientist specializing in strategy and narrative.
John Lewis
Spent over three decades in the CIA, including as Deputy Director and Chief Technology Officer of the CIA Federal Laboratory and as Senior Intelligence Service Executive Expert in the Directorate of Science & Technology.
Ajit Maan
Professor of Practice, Director, Weaponized Narrative Program, philosopher specializing in the analysis of narrative and strategy, author of Narrative Warfare.
Manolis Priniotakis, Professor of Practice, former Vice President for Research and Engagement, National Intelligence University, with over two decades of experience in various U..S. government agencies.
Andrew Maher
Professor of Practice, non-resident fellow at U.S. Joint Special Operations University and the Modern War Institute at West Point, retired officer in the Australian Army.
George Poste
Del E. Webb Professor of Health Innovation and chief scientist with the Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative at ASU, and was a member of the Defense Science Board
Manolis Priniotakis
Professor of Practice, former Vice President for Research and Engagement, National Intelligence University, with over two decades of experience in various U..S. government agencies.
Kyle Ramsay
Professor of Practice, former infantry soldier and officer with the Canadian Armed Forces and other government agencies.
Candace Rondeaux
Professor of Practice, Senior Director, Future Frontlines and Planetary Politics at New America, formerly of U.S. Institute of Peace, U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
David Scheffer
Professor of Practice, former Ambassador at Large for War Crimes, former Director, Center for International Human Rights, and professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Robert Schmidle
Professor of Practice, first Deputy Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, combat fighter pilot with a Ph.D. in philosophy from Georgetown University
Erich Schneider
Clinical Professor, Faculty Director, Center for Intelligence and National Security, former Ranger with multiple deployments, former Department Chair of Military Science at ASU.
Ryan Shaw
Professor of Practice, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Senior University Advisor.
Peter W. Singer
Professor of Practice, Senior Strategist and Senior Fellow at New America, leading expert on 21st century security, author of best-selling books including Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media.
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Distinguished Professor of Practice, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, CEO of New America, former director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State and former Dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
Frank Sobchak
Professor of Practice, Chair, Irregular Warfare, Modern War Institute, West Point, retired Special Forces officer.
Matt Spence
Professor of Practice, Senior Fellow at New America Future Security, director at Guggenheim Partners, focusing on cybersecurity, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy.
Anita Sreedhar
Clinical Professor, Medical Director, Iraq Restorative/Transitional Justice project, physician and public health professional with extensive experience in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
Scott Whittaker
Professor of Practice, Chief Information Security Officer, Verra Mobility, focuses on cyber security, capability enhancement, risk management, and strategy.
Col. (ret.) Isaiah “Ike” Wilson
Professor of Practice, Fellow at New America Future Security, former President, Joint Special Operations University, combat veteran and expert on comparative strategy.
Tyler Wisecup
Faculty Associate, over two decades of intelligence, cyber operations, and counterintelligence experience across the U.S. Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and federal law enforcement.
Fellows
Trevor Aronson
Investigative journalist for The Intercept, executive director of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2019-2020
Greg Barker
Award-winning filmmaker who directed The Final Year, a sweeping insiders’ account of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team, Legion of Brothers, Sergio (Sundance award-winner), and numerous films for PBS/Frontline, including the acclaimed Ghosts of Rwanda, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2017-2018
Philip Bennett
Journalist, former managing editor of the Washington Post, produced over 20 films for PBS Frontline, launched the Local Journalism Initiative, ASU Future Security Fellow 2022-2023.
Rosa Brooks
Professor and former Associate Dean at Georgetown Law, former Counselor to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, former Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2017
Grace M. Cho
Professor of Sociology at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, author of Tastes Like War: A Memoir, writing a book examining the Korean War through the lens of her family’s experience, 2026 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America.
Anuj Chopra
Award-winning DC-based reporter for Agence France-Presse writing a book about Saudi Arabia in the age of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 2026 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America.
Iona Craig
Journalist working in Yemen, winner of the 2016 Orwell Prize, 2014 Martha Gellhorn Prize and 2018 George Polk Award, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019
Jen Daskal
currently Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, Professor and Faculty Director of the Tech, Law, Security Program at American University Washington College of Law, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2020-2021
Patricia Evangelista
Trauma journalist from the Philippines covering disaster, conflict, and human rights issues, award-winning staff reporter for Rappler focusing on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2019-2020
Jill Filipovic
Contributing opinion writer for The New York Times writing on women’s rights in conflict zones, author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019
Joshua Geltzer
Ccurrently Special Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor on Countering Domestic Violent Extremism, former Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Georgetown University Law Center, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2017-2018
Mike Giglio
Journalist and writer focused on war, terrorism, and national security, working on the growing political influence of U.S. militant groups, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2021-2022
Suzy Hansen
Contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World, which was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2019-2020
Shane Harris
Staff writer at the Washington Post, where he covers national security, intelligence, and cyber security, as well as the author of @War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2014-2015
Marielena Hincapie
A nationally recognized immigrant justice leader, strategist, and democracy advocate, writing a book entitled Becoming America: A Personal History of a Nation’s Immigration Wars, 2026 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America.
Victor J. Blue
Photojournalist and writer focusing on the legacy of armed conflict with major projects on Afghanistan and Guatemala, work appearing regularly in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, 7 Pictures of the Year International awards and 5 NPPA Best of Photojournalism awards, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2023-2024.
Jonathan Katz
Journalist, and author of The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster, awarded the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019
Azmat Khan
investigative journalist, Carnegie Fellow, winner multiple awards including a Pulitzer Prize, the National Magazine Award, the Hillman Prize, the Overseas Press Club Ed Cunningham Award, and the Deadline Club Magazine Investigative Reporting Award, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2016-2017
Khameer Kidia
Writer, anthropologist, Rhodes Scholar, and global health physician on the faculty at Brigham and Womenʼs Hospital and Harvard Medical School, ASU Future Security Fellow 2022-2023.
David Kilcullen
Former Chief Strategist in the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau and Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus, author of multiple best-selling books including The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West and Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2018
Suki Kim
Journalist, and author of New York Times best-seller Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korean Elite, recipient of Guggenheim, Fulbright, and Open Society fellowships ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019
Yi-Ling Liu
Award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, Foreign Policy, The Economist, and The New Yorker, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2020-2021
Sarah Esther Maslin
Journalist focusing on Latin America, formerly the Economist’s Brazil correspondent, articles appearing in the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, and other publications, writing a book on the 1981 massacre in El Mozote, El Salvador and the impact of violence, trauma and impunity.
Lt. Col. Sean McCafferty
Active duty in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army, former Chief of Plans & Strategy at U.S. Army Cyber Command, Research Fellow at the Center on the Future of War
Azadeh Moaveni
Gender Project Director, International Crisis Group, author of Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS, Lipstick Jihad, Honeymoon in Tehran and Iran Awakening which she co-wrote with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2016-2018
Vann R. Newkirk II
Senior editor at The Atlantic, and the host and co-creator of narrative podcasts Floodlines and Holy Week, 2022 Andrew Carnegie fellow, winner of a Peabody Award, named Journalist of the Year by the Washington Association of Black Journalists, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2024-2025
Douglas Ollivant
Former Director for Iraq at the National Security Council during both the Bush and Obama administrations, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2019
George Packer
Staff writer at the New Yorker since 2003, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, which won the 2013 National Book Award for non-fiction, Guggenheim fellow, Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2017-2018
Janet Reitman
Contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, covering extremism, youth, and national security, best-selling author, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2021-2022
Tom Ricks
Former national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, part of two Pulitzer Prize winning teams and author of many bestselling books including Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003-05, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2017
Scott Silverstone
Professor of International Relations and Director of the International Relations Program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, author of From Hitler’s Germany to Saddam’s Iraq: The Enduring False Promise of Preventive War and Preventive War and American Democracy, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America, 2016-2017
Peter W. Singer
Strategist and Senior Fellow at New America, one of the world’s leading experts on 21st century security issues, the author of multiple books on child soldiers, cyberwar and emerging military technologies including, LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2018
Saket Soni
Labor organizer, the founder and director of Resilience Force, and the author of The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America, working on Hurricane Hustlers, a book on the soon-to-be trillion-dollar climate disaster recovery economy, 2026 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America.
David Wood
Journalist covering the military for four decades, winner of a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on moral injury, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America, 2015-2016
Research fellows
Asifa Ahmed
International relations scholar, former Postdoctoral Research Scholar, ASU’s Center for Muslim Experience in the U.S., Assistant Professor, Islamia Graduate College for Women, editor in chief, Journal of South Asian Studies.
Rozina Ali
Journalist focusing on the Middle East and South Asia, the post-9/11 wars, and islamophobia, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, a 2022-23 Cullman Fellow and a 2023-24 New America National Fellow.
Elizabeth Cambell
Founding Executive Director, CoAction Global, former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State.
Ian Conway
CEO of Helios Global, an international security consultancy based in the Washington, DC area and CEO of Orca AI, which focuses on financing of malign information operations.
Sarah Cope
Project Manager Motive International, working on projects related to the Irregular Warfare Service Contract, prior work focusing on countering malicious foreign direct investment in East Asia, providing legal and policy-relevant regulatory research.
Ben Dalton
Program manager, New America’s Future Frontlines program, formerly a journalist and producer for BuzzFeed News, World Learning, and the International Crisis Group, his work has appeared in The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, the Christian Science Monitor, among other publications.
Zhuogi Dong
Ph.D. Candidate in International Affairs at Georgia Tech, focusing on US-China strategic competition, civil-military relations, and emerging technologies, Assistant Editor at Small Wars Journal.
Steve Ferenzi
Retired Lt.Col., U.S. Army and former Special Forces officer with over two decades’ experience in complex strategy and multiple deployments in Afghanistan, central Asia and elsewhere, former Assistant Professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Karen Greenberg
Director, Center on National Security at Fordham Law, Fellow at New America Future Security, author of multiple books including Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump, Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State.
Roger Herbert
Formerly Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics, US Naval Academy, former Navy SEAL, Captain (ret.), US Navy, with multiple deployments, focuses on special operations ethics and leadership.
Jeremy Hodge
Senior Investigator, Zomia Center and an investigative journalist covering the rise of extremism in Syria and Iraq, the petroleum/defense sectors, and regional finance, with articles in Foreign Affairs, The Nation, Le Monde Diplomatique, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast, Africa Confidential and other publications.
Morgan Keay
CEO of Motive International, a consulting business that seeks to mitigate conflict and enhance global stability and sustainability, previously worked in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S. Department of State.
Jesse Kirkpatrick
Research Assistant Professor and the Acting Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, George Mason University, Fellow at New America, working on the ethics of peace and security and emerging technologies.
Dana LaFon
Former Chief and Founder, Office of Operational Psychology, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity Directorate, over 25 years of expertise in cyberpsychology and countering influence operations, PhD in Clinical Psychology.
Sol Laudon
Software engineer, Director, Refugee Technology Programs at the Zomia Center, research experience in North Africa and the Middle East.
David Maxwell
National security policy expert with over 30 years’ experience in Asia specializing in irregular, unconventional, and political warfare, retired Special Forces Colonel, served in command and staff positions at all levels in the U.S. Army and USSOCOM.
Joanna Naples-Mitchell
International human rights lawyer, Director, Program on Redress for Survivors of U.S. and Coalition Airstrikes at the Zomia Center, previously worked for Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.
Amy Nelson
Senior Fellow and Director of the Future Security Scenarios Lab at New America, national security scholar and policy practitioner focusing on arms control, emerging and dual-use technologies, strategic risk and uncertainty.
John Pennell
Editor-in-Chief of PRISM: the Journal of Complex Operations. former US Senior Foreign Service Officer, expertise in strategic competition, irregular and hybrid warfare, author of Assessing Russia's Actions in Ukraine and Syria, 2014-2022: Implications for the Changing Character of War.
Víctor Rodríguez Rescia
President of the International Institute for Social Responsibility and Human Rights, former member and president of different United Nations human rights bodies and former secretary of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
J. Peter Scoblic
Co-Founder and Principal, Event Horizon Strategies, former executive editor of the New Republic and Foreign Policy, former deputy staff director of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, PhD, Harvard Business School.
David Sterman
Deputy Director, Future Security at New America, focusing on violent extremism in America, proxy warfare, and the effectiveness and consequences of American counterterrorism.
John Sullivan
Career police officer for 30 years, Instructor in the Safe Communities Institute (SCI) at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, Univ. of Southern California, Senior El Centro Fellow, Small Wars Journal.
Adam Taliaferro
Former US Army officer most recently at Army Futures Command, multiple combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, supporting the Small Wars Journal.
Staff
Carolyn Forbes
Senior Program Manager, Iraq Restorative/Transitional Justice project, also at ASU’s Center for Work and Democracy and former Assistant Director, ASU Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.
Carly Fuglei
Program Director, Iraq Restorative/Transitional Justice project, research, monitoring and evaluation specialist focusing on humanitarian responses, especially in the Middle East, having worked with the UN and other international entities, fluent in Arabic.
Jose Moreno
Senior Advisor and Recruiting Coordinator, Center for Intelligence and National Security, also Senior Global Coordinator, ASU Barrett Honors College, veteran and former US Army officer.
Tony Roth
Sr. Coordinator, communications professional with several decades’ experience in city government and TV stations in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Phoenix, AZ.
Affiliated faculty
The Center works with over 150 affiliated faculty from multiple programs and units at ASU including scholars of political science, history, religious studies, law, engineering, public policy, sustainability, philosophy, international development, security studies, regional studies, and other fields. Affiliated faculty participate in a variety of ways, including designing and managing research projects, presenting at events and conferences, and otherwise contributing to debate, discussion, and the intellectual life of our Center.
New America team
The Center works with several dozen experts based at New America including journalists, researchers, former government officials, former members of the U.S. military, and specialists in international human rights and global humanitarian assistance. Team members mentor ASU students, participate in events, draft reports and article and otherwise support Center activities.